Edged Data Center On Aurora's East Side 'Marks Significant Milestone'

AURORA, IL — Aurora marked a new milestone Sunday when it celebrated a new state-of-the-art data center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The ceremony for Edged, located at 2835 Bilter Road, unveiled the first of several buildings on the 65-acre high-tech campus on Aurora's east side. Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, city officials and leaders from Edged — self-described as the fastest-growing sustainable infrastructure provider — attended the event.

"The grand opening of Edged marks a significant milestone for Aurora and the greater Chicagoland area," Irvin said in a statement. "This state-of-the-art high-tech campus not only strengthens our city's position as a hub for innovation and technology but also brings tremendous economic and employment opportunities to our community."

The data center is designed to support high-density artificial intelligence workloads and features advanced waterless cooling and ultra-efficient energy systems. The campus uses significantly less energy than traditional data centers and doesn't consume any water for cooling. It's instead outfitted with the ThermalWorks waterless cooling system that's expected to save about 380 million gallons of water each year compared to conventional data centers, according to a news release from Edged.

"We are grateful to the City of Aurora for their invaluable partnership and shared vision for a more sustainable future," Edged Chief Executive Officer Bryant Farland said in a statement. "This state-of-the-art campus exemplifies our mission to drive innovation, operational excellence and environmental stewardship with every Edged data center. Together, we have transformed an underutilized site into a next-generation IT hub that delivers high-performance computing alongside responsible resource management. We are proud to contribute to the area’s economic growth while setting new standards for environmentally responsible infrastructure."

The development of the tech park is expected to create more than 2,000 construction jobs and reinforce Aurora's role as a growing center for digital infrastructure.

Besides Aurora, Edged data centers are also under construction or already operational in Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Columbus and Phoenix.